“Aida is an intimate piece … but the intimacy is placed in large spaces,” says Pappano. “My role was to become the stage director creating an imaginary production.” Kaufmann makes his debut in the role of Egyptian general Radamès, Anja Harteros also makes her role debut as the captive Ethiopian princess Aida.

Erwin Schrott (as Ramfis) and Ekaterina Semenchuk (Amneris) and Marco Spotti (King of Egypt) are among the other singers in a starry cast.

The album is released on Warner Classics on 2 October, you can pre-order it on Amazon and Presto Classical, but you can try before you buy and listen to the entire recording exclusively here, for free, for the week prior to its release.